Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-08-13

cept the wild game. Should tLey come across
houses they would be able to avoid them, and
their male inhabitants would probably be far
away from home on business connected with
the war.
Accordingly they rode ten miles or more
along the bank without seeing soul, when
they reached space of bubbling, shallow
water that looked forbade. Indeed, an in
vestigation of the banks revealed the fact
that a loaded wagon had passed the river at
no distant date, perhaps week before.
That is good enough" said John; Eve will
try it And without further ado they
plunged in.
In the center of the stream the water was
strong and deep, and for few yards took
the horses off their legs, but they struck out
boldly till they got their footing again; and
after that there was no more trouble. On
the farther side of the river John took eoun-
sci with his compass and steered course
straight for Mooifontein. At midday they
offsaddled the horses for an hour by some
water, and ate small portion of their re-
manning food Then they upsaddled and
went on across the lonely, desolate veldt. No
human being did they see all that long day.
The wide country was only tenanted by great
herds of laundering game that came rushing
past like squadrons of cavalry, or here and
there by lotteries of vultures, kissing and
fighting furiouSly over some dead buck. And
so at last twilight came on and found them
alone in the wilderness
"Well, what is to be done nowF said John,
pulling up his tired horse. at will be dark
in half an hour"
jess slid from her saddle as she answered,
acct of and go to sleep, suppose"
She was quite right; there was absolutely
nothing else that they could do: so John set
to work and hobbled the horses, tying them
together for further security. for it would be
a dreadful thing if they were to stray. By
the time that this was done the twilight was
gathering into night, and the two sat down to
contemplate their surroundings with feelings
akin TO despair So far as the eye could
reach there was nothing to be seen but vast
stretch of dreary plain, across which the
night wind blew i'll dreary gusts, making the
green grass ripple like the sea There was
absolutely no shelter to be had, nor anything
couple of ant heaps about five PAGES apart.
John sat down on one of the ant heaps and
jess took up her position on the other, and
there they remained, like pelicans in the will
derness, watching the daylight fade out of
the day.
Don't you think that we had better sit to-
gether9" suggested John, feebly. 1T would
be warmer, you see.
"No, | DON'T answered jess, snappishly.
Il am very comfortable as am
Unfortunately, however, this was not the
exact truth, for poor jess teeth were already
chattering with cold Soon, indeed, they
found that the only way to keep their blood
moving was weary as they were, to contin-
ually tramp up and down. After an hour and
a half or so of this, the breeze dropped and
the temperature got more suitable to their
lightly clad, half starved and almost ex-
haUsted bodies Then the moon came up, and
the hyenas, or wolves, or some such animals
came up also and howled round them
though they could not see them. These by
enas proved more than jess nerves could
stand, and she at last condeScended to ask
John to share her ant heap; there they sat,
shivering in each others arms, throughout
the livelong night.
Another drawback to their romantic situa-
ton was that they We're positively soaked by
| the falling dew. There they sat, or rather
| covered, for hour after hour without sleep
| ing for sleep was impossible, and almost
without speaking; and yet, notwithstanding
| the misery of their circumstances not alto
| gether unhappy, since they were united In
| their misery At last the eastern sky begaI
| to turn gray, and John rose and shook the
| dew from his hat and clothes, and limped of
as well as his half frozen limbs would allow
| to catch the horses, which were standing to
| gether some yards away, looking huge and
| ghostlike in the mist. By sunrise he had
managed to saddle them up, and they started
once more. This time, however, he had tG
| lift jess on to the saddle.
About o'clock they halted and ate then
| little remaining food, and then proceeded
slowly enough, for the horses were almost a
| tired as they were, and it was necessary t.
| husband them if they were to reach Mooifon
tein by dark. At midday they halted for al
hour and half, and then. feeling almost
worn out, went on once more, reckoning thai
they could not be more than sixteen or seven
teen miles from Mooifontein. 1t was abou
! two hours after this that a catastrOph,
| happened The course they were following
ran down the side of one land wave, theT
across little swampy SLUT, and up on th'
| opposite slope. They crossed the swampy
ground. walked their horses up to the crest o
the opposite rise, and found themselves fact
| to face with party of armed and mounted
| Beers.